unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/11/89)
Following the military and political areas where the path towards peace without weapons had been opened, he said "a second front" in the economic sphere was now open. His Government supported the convening of the 1992 conference on environment and development, and the General Assembly should enact measures to monitor future threats to ecological security. Activities of the Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction should include the co-ordination of international efforts. The interests of all States should be respected in the preparatory work for the special session and the international development strategy, as well as for political recommendations to strengthen international economic co-operation. The process of perestroika had had effects on the economic policies of his Government, he said; its aim was to provide rights and freedom and enhance the quality of life for all. Property relations were being reformed and industrial enterprises restructured, providing access to the external market and integration in the world economy. Byelorussia thus wanted to see an improvement in international economic relations, as domestic and foreign policies were deeply interlinked. YAKUB AL-MUBARAK (United Arab Emirates) said the United Nations was the best forum to propose better solutions to socio-economic problems. Referring to problems concerning developing countries, such as commodity prices, trade questions, external finances, he said there should be complementarity among countries. He called for the implementation of a new international economic order to allow the international community to find proper solutions to those problems. The special session of the General Assembly which would take place in April l990, and the discussion of the international development strategy, would be important occasions to address all those questions. Referring to decisions and resolutions adopted by international organizations and conferences, he said that what was lacking for their implementation was political will. He attached great importance to the question of the protection of the environment, he continued. Pollution must be reduced, and all countries must co-operate to achieve that. He supported the United Nations conference on environment and development, to be convened in Brazil in 1992. Finally, he said, the debt question was an unbearable problem for the developing countries. The international development strategy and the special session of the General Assembly should try to find ways to relieve the debt burden. FERENC SOMOGYI (Hungary) said international economic relations had assumed a more global character; the international economy was undergoing a swift and apparently lasting transformation. The chronic malfunctions of the international financial and monetary system, as well as national and regional protectionist and discriminatory practices, had raised barriers to world trade and imposed a heavy burden on international economic relations. Unfavourable terms and conditions made it virtually impossible for some countries to be integrated into the world economy through structural adjustment. Hungary had undertaken an historic challenge to begin the democratization process, institute a market economy and open it to the world economy, he said. Its strategic goal was to become an equal member of the democratic community of advanced societies. The one-party monopoly was being replaced by political pluralism with institutional guarantees created for civil and community autonomy. A shift in economic policy was needed along with placing the institutional framework of the economy on a new basis. Hungary had begun its process of adjustment to the world economy under the pressure of debt-servicing obligations; it needed co-operation from developed countries and international institutions to fulfil its debt-servicing obligations. Hungary's two-way participation in the world economy was a basic postulate of its external economic strategy, he said. While keeping in line with the development of Western European integration, his Government would have to increase its economic level to meet that of Western Europe, while continuing to diversify its economic relations. Hungary was preparing for the change in Europe scheduled for 1992 and for the implementation of an agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC) signed in 1988. Reform and renewal in Hungary, based on broad co-operation and abandonment of the "outdated bloc approach", might become an integral part of the search for solutions to the global problems facing mankind. PEDRO DAZA (Chile) said that in the Assembly's general debate, many speakers had referred to a new climate of peace in the international political sphere. Such optimism, however, had limitations; it was in the Second Committee that those limitations were usually discussed. They concerned economic * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501) --- Patt Haring | United Nations | Did u read patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | today? -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-